Alan E. Nelson - Spiritual Intelligence: Discover Your SQ. Deepen Your Faith.

Alan Nelson has provided a clear, comprehensive, and biblical road map for the journey of spiritual formation. This guide will help us avoid ditches of extremes on either side of the road and lengthy excursions that yield no worthwhile destinations.

Steve Stroope, Pastor, Lakepointe Church,
Rockwall, Texas

Alan Nelsons Spiritual Intelligence begins precisely where any sound treatment of spiritual maturity ought to begin, namely, with an examination of Jesuss own view of the subject. Im afraid much of what passes for growth and spiritual intelligence in contemporary Christianity resembles what Nelson labels faux fruit. In a world increasingly filled with paid-for experiences, people wishing to truly follow Jesus had better heed the call, embrace these disciplines, and grow in faith, knowing the world offers no better experience.

James H. Gilmore, coauthor, The Experience
Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage
(Harvard Business School Press)

Spiritual
Intelligence

Spiritual
Intelligence

Discover Your SQ.
Deepen Your Faith.

ALAN E. NELSON

2010 by Alan E. Nelson

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nelson, Alan E.

Spiritual intelligence : discover your SQ. deepen your faith / Alan E. Nelson.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8010-7193-5 (pbk.)

1. Spiritual formation. I. Title.

BV4511.N45 2009

248.4dc22 2009033622

Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

by Les Parrott III, PhD

Id like to thank some friends and mentors:

Ray and Anne Ortlund, who saw some potential in a young couple like Nancy and myself and invested time as our Path Finders.

Thom and Joani Schultz, whom God has used amazingly to transform people around the world with their creative ideas and infective passion.

And Chad Allen, an incredible editor who saw the worth in this project. While Formica countertops are functional, I prefer granite. Thanks for the upgrades, Chad.

My soul mate, Nancy, who has been Jesus in my midst more times than I can imagine. Forgive my moments of blindness.

As a university professor Ive often fantasized about a pill I could offer my students each semester to boost their intelligence. On the first day of class, Id say something like, After we read through the syllabus, Id like you to each take one of these little pills Im handing out, and we will reconvene tomorrow. Theyd file into the classroom the next day, each with a higher IQ than the day before. Wouldnt it be marvelous? In my dream, the semester is filled with lively discussions and intelligent questions. I see students learning not only from me, but from each other as they bring in outside reading that wasnt even assigned. I see them digging through the library for more and more knowledge. As one insight is gleaned, it feeds the curiosity and desire for finding another. My students are passionate about learningnot to get a grade, but for the pure enjoyment of improving their minds. They wake up each morning eager to get to class. And their excitement for learning propels me to teach like never before as we share the journey of increasing our intelligence. By semesters end, I have grown a small army of intellectual giants. Can you imagine? I suppose its every teachers dream.

Ive also had a similar secret wish about the church. Every year, Im privileged to preach to some of the finest congregations in North America. And on countless occasions, Ive shared Sunday brunch with a minister and asked, Well, do you think I got through? He knows exactly what Im asking: Did my message make a difference? The typical response is positive and affirmingwhat else are you going to say to a guest in your pulpit? But I have a hunch he wonders the same thing I do as I climb onto an airplane and head back home. Did the souls of the people in the pews grow? Or was it just another routine Sunday of suiting up and going through the motions? And the more I meet with ministers, the more Im convinced that they, in week after week of ministering to their parishioners, are wondering the same thing.

Thats why I am so very excited about the book you hold in your hands. Alan Nelson has given us a tremendous tool for growing our souls. Alan has succinctly noted the ways and means for improving our spiritual understanding. And he is the first to admit that his insights are not uniquely his own; they rest on the principles Jesus taught two thousand years ago.

In Spiritual Intelligence, Alan has delineated the activities, insights, and skills of the people who have a higher spiritual quotient, and how it is they bring about this growth. He has studied their moves and reveals them to us in this volume. He shows us that these people are not the spiritual elite; they are individuals like you and me who have learned to expand their capacity for God and have become more confident and competent in his ways.

If you are yearning to grow your soul as well as the souls of others; if you want to ratchet up your spiritual know-how, get ready to be challenged on one page and inspired on another. Spiritual Intelligence is the best book Ive read in years for helping people cultivate a deep and authentic spirituality. This book has the potential to awaken the all-too-dormant life that lies within the soul of far too many churches. And every person who is serious about improving his or her SQ should read and reread its pages.

Spiritual Intelligence is not a fantasy pill to swallowit wont give you three easy steps to spiritual wholenessbut it affords articulate and meaningful answers to soul-searching questions, as well as proven practices that are sure to lead you into a deeper relationship with Jesusan intelligent relationship that will impact who you are, what you do, and how you do it.

Les Parrott III, PhD,
Seattle Pacific University,
Author of Becoming Soul Mates

Introduction
From Pampers to Depends

If youre like most people, you believe you have a soul. Nearly everyone these days is interested in soul growth to some degree. Whether its the popularity of Osteen, Ortberg, or Oprah, our culture has demonstrated an appetite for faith and spirituality. Chances are you possess at least a modest desire to develop spiritually. You may or may not have found organized religious or church events helpful. Whether you have is not necessarily pertinent to this book, but it may be to understanding why Ive written it. You see, a growing number of pastors, researchers, and authors like myself have become disappointed with the results weve seen in people after years of church involvement.

The reason is not, as some might believe, too many liberal, gospel-lite preachers. Nor is it a sheer lack of motivation among those pursuing faith. Most of my observations come from the entrails of committed evangelicalism. I was reared in a very conservative Baptist church, followed by Pentecostal influence, and then I pastored congregations in the holiness movement for over twenty years. All of these are traditions that pride themselves in applying orthodox Christianity.